Can You Overcome Your Fears?

(This post is from a letter written home and is presented here in an edited form by Elder Todd's father in hopes that this will offer some degree of comfort to others.)

In the middle of my own troubling circumstances, I write to you in full manner of happiness, expressing my own comfort from the Lord.

. . . I often wrote, I believe, about my past which has been a great sorrow to me. I often felt as if I had failed in my past (as a teenager). I did not share the gospel of Jesus Christ as I should have. I did not speak kind words. I did many gospel duties halfheartedly. I was not as valiant as I could have been. Often those thoughts filled my head . . . I too often remembered the bad times rather than the good.

I know that the Lord has forgiven me of my grievances. I have felt His mercy and I enjoy His presence once more. As a flower grows with sunlight, my soul has grown in His presence. I recognize now that I, in the end of my adolescence, had both a testimony - which has been strengthened - and a knowledge of the scriptures - which has grown. . . God has shown me what I did not see.

I recognize now two incidents in my life that would place great importance in turning my life around. Remember in, I believe 6th grade, when I read a scary story that stated I was going to die, causing me to fear greatly? I cried myself to sleep twice that night, Bria (his sister) shared a scripture that influenced me: Alma 37:37. I learned to turn to God in prayer and to seek the scriptures. It would later form a testimony. I pray that she remembers that night.

The other is the youth activity where we caroled at an elderly home. When we ended the caroling, the leaders encouraged us to talk to the elderly. I didn't want to talk to anybody, so I joined another youth, listening to their conversation. A leader pulled me a way to an elderly woman, who nobody presently was talking with her. Though I have forgotten her name, she was a member of the church and she bore her testimony. I remember, because it still lingers with these words: "I know. I know. I know." I learned the power of testimony.

I am grateful . . . My past is not as dark as I see it and my future is bright. By the grace of God I have mastered the past and future. The present is to prepare; to build upon the talents, attributes and the testimony that I have. . . I am a son of God . . . I will go forward in the service of the Lord, magnifying my callings.

Love, 
Elder Todd

Elder Todd with his Sister prior to leaving for Virginia.

I Want To Be A Catholic; I Want to Be A Mormon

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten  Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.-John 3:16

(To understand the title you need to read to the bottom of the post. Arguably it is not easy to be a single parent. However, sometimes parents must ask: who is the parent, me or the child.)

December 15, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I am happy to report to you that we are allowed to Skype with its usual prerequisites of time. I plan on Skyping, so there will be no worries there. It is a matter of finding the people and the place. It will not be with the members upstairs for they do not have internet (much less a computer or tablet). This has not been on my mind as of recent; I have been thinking of other matters. Once it is all situated, I will have a member text you, or call, so that you are informed. I currently have no idea on time. I know this is not as helpful as needed, but it has been brought up to my attention and now I will work on it.

I may have a chance to buy my companion dinner, so I will be able to use some of the money that I attained over this holiday.

I do not know if this letter will be impressive as others, but those words will come if so needed.

I am happy to hear that California is receiving rain and that there is a potential for it to rain even more. I hope for California's sake that it does rain.

Last Monday, there was little excitement. We did our normal tasks on P-day and tried to see people with little success. 

Tuesday came along. We were able to see an investigator who had been babysitting elsewhere, causing her
to cancel her appointments. We retaught the Plan of Salvation. The reason we had to reteach is because the previous time we taught the lesson the television was on. Granted, it was mute and not so distracting. However, it was a murder mystery movie with people dying. The Spirit was not present at that lesson. Reteaching the lesson enabled us to review it for her and to help confirm understanding.

Later that day, we went up to Montross; a member had fed us dinner. She had made me self-conscious of the way I eat food. I am a person who, when there are different kinds of food on a plate, eats one specific thing at a time and saves what is considered the main course last. She noted that and asked if I did not like meat, which was the main course. I had to pause, consciously think of the way I was eating, and attempt to explain it. It is easy to explain what I do rather than why I do it. 

Following our meal, we went to see our investigator, who I am unsure about mentally. My companion is slightly "weird-ed out" by him, but I believe what he does (he watches us while we pray before we go into his apartment) is due to his mental state (of which I am still unsure of). I am confident on that. We taught him about prayer and scripture study. He seems to have a fair amount of understanding.

Wednesday, we updated our area book with the proper information that we needed to put in it. We tried different people that day with little success. Even our evening was full of cancellations. Plus, with the Christmas initiative, the sisters talked to us about different ideas they had, some of which they have implemented.

Thursday, we not only had district meeting, but we also had exchanges. I stayed in the area with the new zone leader, Elder Graff. I led the area for that day, something I was reluctant to do for once. The day turned out more successful than other days. We saw a medical less active (the one whom I cut her hedges for). We started off with small talk. I began it by asking the standard how are you question. With a brief answer and nothing to go on, it led to a brief awkward silence for me to think of what to say and then I sheepishly admitted that I am not the most conversationalist person. However, if you start the discussion or ask me to teach, I can talk happily for the amount of time specified (if not more). I shared the things of stake conference with her for she was unable to go. After a few other people, with no success, I felt prompted to try a potential. We traveled to the place, only to find that the potential was not home. However, the family was interested in hearing our message. This family is Baptist, but has little knowledge of the Bible, much less understanding the contents. We were able to teach the Restoration and help them understand.

We tried another potential that night, that is somewhat an investigator. I decided we were going to test the waters. This person on their teaching record had the statement that they were not interested. However, it was quite contrary in my call with him several weeks ago, when he said he was interested. I briefly went over the Restoration. I could tell the man and his oldest grandson are interested. However, his wife, who is more

of a strict Christian, is not. She firmly stated that no man has seen God and lived. However, as we pointed out to her with her Bible read by her own grandson, Moses saw and talked to God face to face (Exodus 33:11). Jacob, better known as Israel, even saw God face to face (Genesis 32:30). I know there is a scripture even in the Gospel of John that talks about such cases, but I cannot think of it at this current point. When we brought up these points, she said she had to think about; she then added that Elijah must have seen God. But, she stated that these men were extraordinary people. She said it in such a way that these people were exempt from the rule that whoso sees God will die. To which, I pointed out that while these were extraordinary people, they were still men, just like her and I. The scriptures show their faults. With this conversation, I can tell the man really trusts his wife, even saying she knows the Bible really well (which she does). Because of that trust, he wavers on his interest, seeing as she can be, in some sense, a portable church. Our next attempt to talk to them is not to break their trust, but to help her understand in order to bridge what she knows and what we can add. By this, I believe we can help the man grow in interest and act on that interest to learn more.

We saw our investigator who is on date for baptism. He has denied his other church, who, in his own
opinion, did not answer his questions about life after death. We brought a baptismal calendar, so that he knows what he needs to do in order to continue progressing to baptism. He is greatly excited and it is evident that he has a testimony that is in the heart. There may be bumps in the road, but things should be resolved. I am excited for him.

Friday, we exchanged back and weekly planned. The only thing that occurred of significant importance is we taught our investigator who watches us as we pray. We talked to him about the Sabbath day. He came to church. And come to find out, he is a cousin of a member in the branch. She was happy to see him. I would never have known. 

Saturday, we completed our progress record. Then, we went to the Tappahannock parade. This was not a relaxing parade; there was work to do. The sister missionaries came up with the idea to pass out candy canes with some quotes from President Thomas S. Monson and a link to Christmas.mormon.org during the parade. We had two hundred candy canes; with the sisters and the senior missionary couple, we passed them out. They went fast, because there were a lot of people. It was funny, because I was holding our bag open to give some to a few people, when a lady in the parade approached me. She put candy in my bag for whatever reason. Also, the senior couple as we were passing out candy canes asked us to go on the other side to pass them out for they had finished one side of the street. Now, this request came in the middle of the parade. My companion found an opening to dart across while the parade was proceeding. I was lucky to find one and get across. So, I ran in the middle of the parade. Not something I ever thought I would do, nor would have liked to have done.

Intellectual Reserve (C)

Then, we saw our single mother investigator. Seeing as last Sunday for us was stake conference, she was not able to attend. After all, she is trying to preserve gas in her car, so she could not come all the way down to Mechanicsville. Upon request of her youngest and second child, who is 5, they went to the Catholic church. Her oldest and first child, who is 11, was not happy. As she told us, the two, on the way home, were arguing (as per usual). Her youngest stated that she wanted to be Catholic; oh, and it is obvious why. As the youngest said, "They give us treats," and on Sunday, "The Catholic church gave me a candy cane." The oldest wants to be a Mormon, even wanting to be a missionary. (Which allowed us to teach about missionary work.) He likes the Church. Our single mother investigator has decided to do double church. Go to sacrament meeting, leave her oldest at Primary, go to the Catholic church for her daughter, return to the Church to pick up her son, and go home. She wants to support both their decisions. Now, the kids are arguing over what their mother is going to be: Catholic or Mormon. They have decided that she needs to be a hybrid, both Catholic and Mormon. She herself has yet to decide. (I do wonder how she feels the Spirit. She was a missionary for the Catholics and she obviously has felt the Spirit.)

Intellectual Reserve (C)

The single mother wants to wait for her son to be baptized. He is a somewhat normal kid; he has ADHD and has lower age maturity. She wants to wait for him to grow a bit (allowing him to more fully make the decision) and have him learn what he needs to learn. She plans on having only herself and her son to be taught while she has her daughter be at a friend's house. I note that the son has a great amount of potential mentally. He has a desire to learn and somewhat memorized some scriptures, particularly Psalm 23. I believe that he can memorize scriptures, which will aid him mentally and demonstrate his maturity. It is great that the Church has the seminary program with a set of scriptures to memorize. I believe that he can memorize those scriptures. In fact, I plan on giving him a list of ten scriptures from that list. I believe that she will see that this Church will help her children. This may become a motivator for her to seek a testimony.

Sunday came by. We went over to a son of the members upstairs' house to help eat some leftovers. It was his birthday this past week, which was celebrated three times, this being the third. Monday, his actual birthday, he had a small surprise birthday party to throw him off for an even bigger surprise party on Friday. We were invited for Friday, but it was best that we did not go. Partially, it was that we had a lesson, but the stake presidency was there and so were the sisters. For that reason alone, we were lucky to not to go. Sunday was a good day.

Alles wohl!

Love,

Elder S. Todd

P.S. I believe Hannukah is this week. Happy Hanukkah! (Yes Hanukkah began the day after this letter was sent.) 

Colonial Heights: Pushing Through Pain, Doctor's Appointments, Shoe on the Other Foot, Getting Along

This picture was taken in response to my mother's request that I smile more in mission pictures.
Reference is to a movie with Tommy Lee Jones.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Dear Parents, Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom,

I give. So, let me give you an update with my back. I told you last week that I aggravated it from cleaning house. I was well determined to talk to the medical officer to say, I give. I already had set plans to talk to her on Wednesday. Well, Tuesday, I had a headache, so I did my normal thing of taking Aleve. It worked not only for my headache, but for my back. However, the pain slowly came back, but not as aggressive and it was manageable. By the time I called the medical officer, I was mostly fine and I called at the worst possible time. She was going to a meeting and briefly talked to me. I told her the way I felt, meaning the way my back was. She told me not to bend and such and emailed exercises. (Of which I now have.) Fast forward to Sunday. I was doing good. I have been icing, doing exercises (except Sundays), and avoiding things that I should not be doing. I was sitting on the couch, when lo and behold I sneezed twice. By the second time, I felt pain in my back and I was like, "Ouch!" I knew very much what that meant. After morning preparation (before church), I iced my back. But, it was not long enough. Going about in church and the day, I felt the pain in my left leg and it was worse, much worse. Oddly, my thigh and hip were hurting, my calf felt sore, and I had nice needle sharp pain in my ankle. The extension of the pain went down to my foot. That was major red flag, plus I noticed my mobility was slowing down like the first time I threw my back out. After seeing one person, I went home and iced it. Icing helped alot this time, because that pain went away. I started taking ibuprofen once again. This morning, my left lower back is sore and stiff, which usually is the case, but it is more extremely sore than usual. I again sneezed and it felt like something was pushing down on that part of my back. No pain as of yet. But, I give. I am not trying to be hypochondriac or freaking out. I know what I felt and I know what I am feeling. I know I will heal, but as Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said (and I summarize or paraphrase), "Yes, get a blessing, but also use modern medicine. Get medical help." I am going to talk to the medical officer after eating lunch and tell her about yesterday. I do not know if I need a chiropractor or physical therapist. I am slightly worried about our insurance now that you mention it and I do not know how much will be covered if I can convince that there is a greater issue at hand and I need more medical help. 

I thought I told you about mission medical from the get go. It would be like me to forget. I will talk to the medical officer about a back brace. I may talk to her sooner than after lunch, just for that. I am using the medicine for emergencies or when things go awry, like yesterday.

I am not sure about television since we are not allowed nor do we have time to watch TV. I do know certain things about some shows, like Bones. Yes, I do know the ending of last season. Somebody told me. Someone tried to explain Revenge, but it was greatly disorganized and I was confused. (Then, she told me that she will update me about this season.) I heard that Sherlock is good.  And I heard about the third season of The Legend Of Korra, which sounds awesome. (Sorry, you should have seen the last one or two coming.) And I am happy to see another picture of my dog. She looks happy. And I love the two in the background. I cannot tell if it is Chloe or Buddy that is taking food from Coda, but Coda looks like she is taken aback.

Monday, we had zone P-day, which I wrote part of one letter. I finally finished the letters and such this morning when I had time. I hope that three of them will not be late and on time. Our district leader and his companion (Elder Jensen and Elder Linton) stayed the night, because our district leader had a meeting in Richmond or somewhere north the next morning. We did a miniature exchange. I went with the district leader and we met up with a member to teach a less active. It went quite well. The rest of our night after our exchange, we ended up talking. I was having fun, because the three of us (the district leader, his companion, and I) were talking about/quoting Brian Regan, Batman, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. It felt good to actually talk to people and relate. [Elder Young is a good elder. We just do not click in humor and we hardly relate to anything. He has hardly seen Avatar and does not care much for Batman. When it comes to understanding things, we are on different pages. I talked about the times I went toilet papering houses and put signs on people's lawns during the night (some of the good times I remember as a youth). He did not approve of toilet papering houses or such pranks, because wet toilet paper is hard to clean up and he has seen how such pranks have disrupted relationships. (To which I said, you have to have a good spirit about it.) We have improved our teaching together, which is the more important thing. We are actually working together on that and working together with the area.] My companion just listened. I felt bad, but occasionally he jumped in. [Being in such situations multiple times where I am the one listening, I never know how to fix it on the other side.]

Tuesday, Elder Young had a doctor's appointment. We worked on the progress record a lot earlier, because Elder Young had another appointment the following day. We had received a referral that day, so we went and checked it out. The person does not seem too interested. He simply asked us questions and wanted to know our answers. Sometimes while we gave him answers, he would pipe up and declare that we have been saying contradicts the Bible, to which I would explain how it does not contradict. A few times he was satisfied with our answers, other times he was silent. Finally we left, wherein we went to another referral that we had not been able to contact. This person was a member in the Fort Lee Military Branch, but lived in our area. I believe that a relative of his sent his name in for us to find him. He is active in the Church, but still needs some more spiritual encouragement. He was a funny character. He told of how we had left a mormon.org card with no information and was glad that we stopped by, but was a bit confused as to why there was no information. I explained that I use it as a signal that "Hey, the missionaries were here," to which he replied, "Kind of like the Bat Signal." 

Wednesday, we mainly had the appointment at the doctor's and trying to find more people. Correlation was cancelled. 

Thursday, we saw our hospital patient and he was doing well. He will be coming home soon. We saw a few more people, then we went to the church that night. The priesthood brethren put on a dinner for the Relief Society sisters. It went amazingly well. Enough brethren came and the sisters enjoyed their time. Everybody was happy. I did what I could to help. It was a marvelous night. 

Friday, we helped out the elders' quorum president with preparing his trailer for fall and winter, which was putting up insulation to help block the wind. I helped fix his porch. I did everything that I could within my limits. We saw more people that day. 

Saturday, we mainly planned and worked on the roster. We realized that we did not know 54% of the ward, only because they do not come to church and live far, far away. We made a list and we are trying to get information on the people. That night we saw a recent convert and his returning wife [name withheld], whom we had now given them a Duty to God and a Personal Progress. They took us out on their date night to a Thai restaurant. It was quite delicious. I had Pad Thai, which was noodles with chicken (or some kind of meat) coated with peanut sauce. It was quite delicious. They bought dessert, so I had coconut pie. Yes, I am starting to like coconut more, just not the coconut flakes. I feel like I am eating paper. 

Sunday, there was church and I rested my back after nearly throwing it out, yet again. Then, we went all over the place looking for our phone that ended up being in our apartment. Then, we had dinner with the wonderful family that tends to feed us a lot. We talked to the recent convert of Appomattox and taught her the plan of salvation. She asked us about our beliefs in order to understand what she believes. She asked about the Rapture (1 Tessalonians 4:17), which took some time to explain. I have little knowledge of the Rapture and such. I explained it to the best of my abilities and knowledge. I realize now that I was on the right track.

Well, I explain everything that I could. All is well! Oh, and by the way. HAPPY JEWISH NEW YEAR! You were expecting it, right?

Love,

Elder S. Todd

August 19, 2013 - Miracles - Service - Servants of Jesus Christ

Dear Parents,

It is so good to hear from you, even if it is a small letter as this. (All that I have received is the postscript, which I am grateful for and I am not sure if there is more. In any case, I am grateful.) I got mom's letter and I do plan on writing back as soon as possible. I also got Mom's invite to Google Plus, which I do not believe that I will be able to go on. I do thank you for that. I am sorry to hear that you are dealing with ants. They seem to be quite a bother.

My week here has been one of the best thus far. My companion and I had received a "mormon.org" referral. We did not have a set appointment and so we decided to go knock that door after doing service. My companion had forgotten his dress shoes and so we had to drive back to our apartment to get his shoes. We got there and knocked on his door. It did not look as though anyone was home, but we tried anyway. The thought came to my head to expect a miracle. I rang the doorbell and the door swung open and this muscular black man is at the door. We gave our statement as to who we are, "We are servants of Jesus Christ." He replied to us, "Come on in." Well, that does not happen that often and I was quite honestly expecting the door to close on us, seeing that the last Mormon.org referral cancelled on us. I was taken aback and we went inside. He was talking to his friend that referred us to him on the phone and she was happy that we were there. We shared the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Spirit was there strongly. He wanted to be baptized, to read the Book of Mormon. We called him a few days ago and he said he was ready to turn his life over to Christ.

The same day, we had an appointment for this Baptist woman, but that day was not the right day for her due to unfortunate circumstances. Despite this, we decided to try a few people nearby who said that they might be interested. We saw this girl who we had given a pass-along card and who had invited us back to talk to her family. She brought her mother, who told us, "I already know of the Mormon church and I am not interested." We persisted and asked her if there was anything we could do for her. She told us, "No, there is not anything... Well, do you have gas money?" We gave her some and it softened her heart where she let us in and told us a few personal stories of how she came to believe in Christ. My companion and I shared our testimonies of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. She pulled out a Book of Mormon that she had found on the ground one day outside her little townhouse. She said she felt full and we made an appointment to come back. As we were leaving the neighborhood, there was a man on a bike, who shouted at us, "Mormons!" We stopped our car and rolled down the window. He told us where he lived and invited us back. (We believe we met with him again and he tried preaching to us.)

The next day many of our appointments fell through, so we decided to try a few referrals. We got two new people who are potentially interested, though one of them was not a referral. God has helped us find new people and has shown us who is prepared. This week has been a miracle in that way. And while, yes, it was disappointing to not see them at church this Sunday, I was comforted in that fact that I had sowed seeds.

I did more service on Saturday for an Eagle Scout project. This young man that I was helping decided to put on a 5k Run for Canned Food. People would come to donate canned food and join the race. It was huge success for the young man, because a lot of non-members were there. I was a race marshal along with my companion. I had to go in the middle of traffic and stop it, so that the runners would be able to cross the street. I even helped other joggers, who were not part of the race, cross the street. Nobody wanted to kill me for stopping the road, which was great. Though, there was this man who was not going to wait and took his opportunity to go when he could. But, it was a lot of fun helping people cross the street. I walked the race at the end to pick up the signs that pointed the way.

I have been assigned to give a talk this upcoming Sunday on preaching the gospel. I am really excited and I have a few quotes down. I am not writing anything, but the introduction. I have created an outline, but other than that, I will rely on God and tend to the talk throughout the week. I also realized a few things this week about me personally. I love to sing and I have been learning some of the hymns. I learned Master, the Tempest is Ragingand I am working on A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief and School Thy Feelings. I do want to learn other hymns and other musical songs (though that will be a long while away). It also struck me that I should be a forensic psychologist and on the side, be a victims counselor. I feel as though the Lord has helped me realize a few things and I know that the Lord will help provide for me.

Also, thank you for all that you do for me and for sending me the list of birthdays. I now know when to wish people happy birthdays!

I hope everything is going well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

Footnote to the above post which is a letter our son sent to us:

My son received a postscript to a letter that I had written him in the form of a short email. The letter that I thought I had sent him was in a draft folder. The postscript message had a different signature message than the original letter. So it was quite interesting to see him mention the word miracle twice in his letter. The letter that was sent to him that he received after writing the above letter included the following quote from Albert Einstein: "There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; or you can live as if everything is a miracle." Also note, that his mother always chooses a quote from Pinterest to include in his letter. That quote is what you see included in this post. Notice that it is a quote from Ezra Taft Benson and also mentions "miracles." Was it just a coincidence that we sent him those particular quotes unknowingly to him or was it inspiration? I would think it was the latter. Life is full of miracles. -Stephen Todd, Seth's Father

Monday, August 12, 2013 - the Sun still Shines - Understanding People

Dear Parents (Mom and Dad/Dad and Mom),

Well, this week was okay, but that is just all right. All is well! Even when it is raining, the sun is still shining on the other side of the clouds. Lessons went okay and investigators are somewhat progressing. One of our investigators wants time away from us, but I understand, seeing as that he is dealing with the possibility of losing one of his last living relatives. You know, I have come to see that I put a lot of emphasis on understanding people, which I believe is a good thing. By understanding people, you come to find their needs and where they are at in life, which is when you teach people and not lessons. That there, is a big key, because people are so different. I talked to this man who came from Trinidad, who saw Hitler when he was little, and was a soldier and I see that he is a very spiritual man. His needs are totally different from another investigator who has doubts about certain things. With that article portion you shared, (http://www.realclearreligion.org/articles/2013/06/01/time_for_some_mormon_myth_busting.html) I do tolerate a lot of people. I have been blessed by the Lord with humility and optimism. Truly, there is hope for everybody.

Well, I talked to President Wilson, the mission president and had a nice interview with him. I did not have any questions or concerns this time around, but maybe next time. I looked at the blog and I figured I should mention the name of the mission president, seeing as his name is President Wilson, not President Bradley. Maybe his first name is Bradley, I do not know. When I saw that I thought I had the name of my mission president wrong and then I went to check. It is alright. I am glad to know that I am loved and missed. I miss a lot of people, especially my family. I think back on some things, at times, but I press forward. 

I miss you Mom and Dad, but the months are already going by. It is insane as to how fast time is flying by. I heard that you two are counting down the months already from a little birdy (23 months). All will go by as it should. I am glad to hear both of you, Mom and Dad, are doing fine. I am glad to hear that Mom enjoyed babysitting and that Dad is getting ready for what looks like his last year.

My companion, Elder Meibos (My-bus), is good. We are getting along fine and I have no quarrels with him. Yes, he is a bit odd, such as stating that it is okay to double dip and that it is okay to drink out of the milk jug (which if I ever need milk, I buy my own). But, he is a good person. He is a studious person and loves to make jokes. We support each other so that we can do the best that we can. If anything, we are united as companions and know what might be best for the people. When I upload pictures, which I am assuming to use the account that you sent, you will actually see him in a tie dye shirt with my zone leaders, Elder Braithewaite (who will be in the middle of one of the pictures) and Elder Felt. (We went to see the Chancellor Battlefield)(Missionaries have the morning and afternoon to shop, do laundry, and to sightsee. Virginia has a lot of historical places of interest to Seth.). And I know my pictures are not the best; I will do my best to make them look good.

I have plenty to eat. I do not eat much at the apartment, except maybe for lunch. Lunch, sometimes the members provide and most of the time the members provide dinners. There is good food here and fish(We still can't believe he eats fish since he wouldn't at home.). I do not complain or murmur for I have enough. The members are so kind. We talk to them to set up appointments and they offer dinner sometimes. Or sometimes, we talk to them and they bring up dinner and it is a free meal. Yesterday, the bishop's wife of the ward (local congregation, more than one congregation may utilize the same building) that I am in, gave us free food. She had wanted to give it away, because she had enough. She had a lot of food because one of their daughters got married and there was a lot of food and cake left over from the reception.

Sorry to hear about Chloe (his sister Bria's dog). I am glad that she is doing okay, but, wow, a foxtail up her nose. I wonder how that got there. Well, I am glad that it was not Carly (Seth's Boxer), but I am so glad that Chloe is doing okay after that. Hope the dogs are doing well and continue doing well. 

I helped with an interfaith service event where at one of the church buildings, they were giving school supplies and clothes to children in need (this was on Saturday). I helped direct traffic as cars were coming in, which was fun. It was not too busy. Most of the time I was singing hymns (specifically, Welcome, Welcome Sabbath Morning, Now Let Us Rejoice, Master, The Tempest is Raging) and some songs from Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables (which is quite sad, because I do not remember most of the lines from the songs and I do miss the songs a bit). I waved to a lot of cars, because I felt great and a lot of people honked their horns or waved back. Then, it rained, or poured down on us.

All is well.

Love,

Elder S. Todd

One's only rival is one's own potentialities. One's only failure is failing to live up to one's own possibilities. In this sense, every man can be a king, and must therefore be treated like a king.
Abraham Maslow